Shoe-polishing apparatus.



W. H. GAGGINS.

SHOE POLISHING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 8, 1913.

1,1 10,385. Patented Sept. 15, 1914 THE NORR1 PETE/es ca. PHO7O LII'HO \VASHINUTON D. 1:.

WILLIAM H. GAGGINS, or PHILADELPHIA, rnNNsYLvANIa SHOE-POLISHING- APPARATUS Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept, 15, 1914.

Application filed August 8, 1913. Serial No. 783,665.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, VILLIAM H. GAG- oINs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Shoe- Polishing Apparatus, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of thisspecification. r

The object of my invention is to provide means to facilitate the polishing of shoes, and is intended more especially for home use by those polishing their own shoes, although it has features which render its use advantageous to professional shoe polishers.

When one attempts to polish his own shoes, without removing them from the feet, he necessarily assumes an awkward position,-

\ cannot easily maintain the shoe iniixed position on the shoe rest, and finds it almost impossible to satisfactorily effect the, final cloth-polishing operation due to the necessity of holding the hands below the necessarily low level of the shoe.

My invention has for its object to provide means to enable the. polishing operation to be performed with ease. and facility.

- A preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanyingdrawing, in which I v Figure l isa plan view of the invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a partial section on the line '33 of Fig. 1.

' The base plate or support a is intended to be secured, preferably by screws, to any suitable wooden platform. Projecting upward from the base is a hollow support or pocket 6 whose side wall at its upper end curves inward toward a central opening in the top of the pocket. This affords a convex spherical-shaped surface for the support of a cup 0 whose inner or lower surface is of concave spherical shape so as to suitably engage the pocket I). Secured to and depending from the centerof the cup 0 is a rivet (Z to the lower end of which is secured a plate 0 extending within the pocket 0 and having a pcripheral flange engaging theinner surface of said pocket. The cup 0 depends from a foot rest 7. The flanged plate 6 is preferably of thin metal so as to have a degree of elasticity. The rear end ofthe foot rest is provided with sharp projections 9. Then the shoe is placed on the foot rest, the heel the roller may be omitted.

rests behind the same if pushedagainst the projections g, the latter will penetrate the heel slightly and aid in maintaining the foot in fixedrelation to the foot rest. The supportlng means described virtually act as a universal joint and enable the foot rest to assume any desiredangle, .so that the position of the foot may be changed from time to time without altering the position of the shoe relatively to the foot rest. The metal,

preferably in the form of a rodextending alongside the foot rest, the rear portionjof the rod being bent; down at 3 and thenback and then curved upon itself to encircle the pin 2'. Preferably the straight front part of the rod is provided with aroller m, although .When the .two cloth guides are in such position that their :front parts extend horizontally, the polishing cloth is slipped under one cloth guide, thence up over the front of the shoe and thence down under the other cloth guide. -The ends of the cloth extend upward and may be grasped by the hands and moved up and down, thereby drawing the cloth back and forth overthe top portion of the shoe. v. 3 One ofthe important features of my invention is the capacity of thescloth guides 7r) to bemoved ,intora different position so that they may operate to hold and guide the cloth in the polishing of the heel as well as in the polishing of the upper. To this end, the cloth guides are pivoted as abovedescribed, permitting them to be swung upward so. that their front portions willpass from a horizontal position to a position at an angle of (say) about sixty degrees to the horizontal, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. When thecloth guides are in this latter position, the polishing cloth is slipped in a the following means are provided. First,

the rear extremity of each guide is bent up at an angle of (say) about sixty degrees to the front portion of the shaft, so that, when the guide is lifted on its pivot, said rear extremity will contact with the base a. and thus limit the upward movement of the guide. The pressure exerted upon the guides during the heel polishing operatlon acts to hold the guides in their raised pos tion. Next, each guide is held in its horizontal position by means of a latch comprising a two-armed lever 0 pivotally mounted on an ear 2? on the base a, the up right arm of the lever 0 having a nose a overlying the guide. A spring 8 normally holds the lever 0 in such position that it projects the nose a over the guide is. To release the cloth guide, one arm of the lever 0 is pressed down, thus withdrawing the nose from its locking position. A leaf spring t, secured at its rear end to the base a and at its front end underlying the guide is, then immediately operates to elevate the guide into its .raisedposition. The front part of the leaf spring is provided with ears at which partly surround the guide and preventthe latter from moving out of engagementwith the spring.

Then the cloth guide is returned to its lower position by hand, it moves between the lever 0 and an ear- 1" on the base a and in this movement strikes the cam-faced top of the nose 01, thus moving the lever 0 out against the action of the spring 3. As soon as the guide in its downward movement has cleared the nose at, the latch immediately springs in and holds the guide in its working horizontal position, as above described.

The front extremity of each guide 70 is provided with a guard m, which prevents the roller m, and also the polishing cloth, from sliding forwardly. The inwardly turned part y of the guide 70 prevents the roller m and the polishing cloth from sliding rearwardly.

Another pair of cloth guides '12 are arranged under the rear of the footrest. These may be formed integral with the footrest, and may consist of ears bent downward and inward. In the polishing of the instep or shank of the shoe, the cloth extends under the guides o and thence up along opposite sides of the instep, the ends of the cloth beinggrasped by the hands and moved up and down.

It will be understood, from the foregoing description, that the cloth may be manipulated, in any one of its three positions, with out the necessity of the'operator bending over into an awkward posture.

The apparatus is simple and inexpensive and is adapted for application to any suitable support, as, for example, a box, stool, bench, chair or step. Further the arcooperate in the polishing of every part of the shoe.

I do not herein claim the specific construction of shoe rest support herein shown, as the same forms the subj cot-matter of another application, Serial No. 795,048, filed October 14, 1913.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is 1. A shoe polishing apparatus comprising a foot rest, a support for the foot rest comprising means permitting the foot rest to be moved to different angular positions, and a pair of cloth guides on opposite sides of the foot rest, said guides being mounted to move from a substantially longitudinal and horizontal position toward an upright position adjacent to the heel of the shoe.

2. A shoe polishing apparatus comprising a foot rest, a support for the foot rest including a universal joint permitting the foot rest to be moved into any angular position, and a pair of cloth guides on opposite sides of the foot rest, said guides being pivotally mounted opposite the rear end portion of the foot rest to enable them to swing from a substantially horizontal position alongside the front part of the shoe toward an upright position adjacent to the heel of the shoe. 7 l

3. Ashoe polishing apparatus comprising a foot rest and a pair of cloth guides on opposite sides thereof, said guides being mounted to move from a substantially longitudinal and horizontalposition toward an upright position, means limiting the upward movement of the guides, and means independent of the foot-rest and manually releasable, to hold the guides in their horizontal position. I g

4. A shoe polishing apparatus comprising a foot rest and a pair of cloth guides on opposite sides thereof, each guide extending longitudinallyfrom opposite the front por tion of the foot rest rearwardly and thence bent successively downwardly and rearwardly, the last named rearward extensions being pivotally mounted on transverse axes, and manually releasable means engaging the last named rearward extensions and adapted to hold the working front ends of the guides in a horizontal position.

5. A shoe polishing apparatus comprising a foot rest and a pair of cloth guides on op posite sides thereof, said guides being mounted'to move from a substantially longitudinal and horizontal position toward an upright position and manually releasable spring-actuated latches adapted to engage the guides when they are swung down into their horizontal position.

6. A shoe polishing apparatus comprising a foot rest and a pair of cloth guides on oprangement of the cloth guides is such as to I posite sides thereof, said guides being mounted to move from a substantially longitudinal and horizontal position toward an upright position, means limiting the upward movement of the guides, manually releasable means, adapted to hold the guides in their horizontal position, and springs adapted, when the guides are released, to move the guides toward their upright position.

7 A shoe polishing apparatus comprising a foot rest and a pair of cloth guides on opposite sides thereof pivotally mounted at their rear ends on a transverse axis to enable them to swing from a substantially horizontal position toward an upright position,

manually releasable spring-actuated latches adapted to engage the guides when they are swung into their horizontal position, and springs adapted, when the guides are released, to move the guides toward their upa WILLIAM H. GAGGINS.

Witnesses:

FRANK S. BUssER, M. M. HAMILTON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). G. 

